A computer production area is normally filled with palates of products, packaging cushions for he products, and shipping cartons. A computer can be shipped to a consumer with many accessories. For example, some computer peripherals include a mouse, a battery charger, a power cord, and a keyboard. These peripherals are not connected to the computer but are still shipped with the computer and generally require separate packaging.
As understood herein, a computer production area can require a great deal of space for manufacturing, testing, and shipping the computer. Also, space is required for loading software onto computers prior to shipment to a consumer. Unfortunately, valuable space is consumed by the shipping materials, which can decrease production throughput. The present invention recognizes that one source of this problem is the fact that different sizes of computers require different sizes of packaging cushions to snugly hold the computers within the shipping boxes, so that a plethora of differently-sized cushions must be stored in the production area, consuming excessive space. Having made this critical observation, the invention herein has been provided.